This post is all about playing catch up on some things...
Blueberry Festival! We took the advice of one of our neighbors and headed up to PA to Linvilla Orchards for their Blueberry Festival. They have pick-your-own as well as a bunch of other things on festival days including characters, shows, playground, animals, face paint, etc... We thought it would be link Millburn Orchards where we normally go, this was different. It was bigger and had much more organized entertainment. (pie eating contests, bubble blowing contests - more on this later, limbo contests as well as visits from Thomas the Train, Barney, and a couple more that we didn't stay for)
Farmer Maddie & Farmer Daddy (the face hole wasn't big enough for Daddy to put his head through *chuckle*
They also had face painting there, which of course, we gave in and let her do. She chose to get a butterfly. I was hoping for a tiger or something...oh well!
Yes, that is me up on stage competing against 6 yr olds in a bubble gum blowing contest. So, of course I rocked it and kicked their little butts right? Nope...I didn't do too well *grin* But the look on Maddie's face cheering for Mommy up on the stage, she looked so excited and proud, little did she know my bubble blowing skills are not quite up to snuff. Still, we all got a kick out of it.
Maddie also got a ride on one of the ponys they had at the festival as well. She had a great time at the festival and was quite sad (read: through a little tantrum) when we said it was time to go.
Oh yeah, we also did get blueberries while were were at the Blueberry Festival but I didn't get pictures of that *grin* Maddie now says she loves blueberries. Of course, she loves all fruit. Strawberries seem to be her ultimate favorite though. All in all the festival was fun, we'd go back again =)
Dress up is still a favorite. She also loves playing and braiding and tormenting my hair. The other day, Maddie ran up to Daddy climbed up and gave him a big hug and said, "I Love You Daddy" there was like a 2 second pause and then she finished her sentence ".....today." *chuckle*
We've been spending most of our weekends going to the pool. We've been trying to get Maddie to practice swimming and when she's wearing her life vest she can swim as fast as us, no problem. The problem has always been when the life vest comes off, she tended to sink, she wasn't kicking and paddling enough to keep herself afloat. But, this past weekend we had a breakthrough. Madeline swam. She really swam. Swam distance between Daddy and Mommy in the deep, deep water, maybe 10 feet between us. She was paddling and kicking like crazy, but she did it. The HUGE grin on her face was priceless. She did have her wetsuit on which gave her a little bit of help, but she was a swimming maniac. Learning how to swim is one of those non-negotiable things for us, and due to the lack of progress with the swimming lessons we've been taking things into our own hands and so far...so good.
One final thing.... Maddie has always been quite verbal. She talks. Ok, she LOVES to talk. So, she's been a chatterbox for quite some time. Her pronunciation was ahead of her friends at school, but she still says this one line that is "off" all of the time and it's just too cute, and I want to remember it so I need to write it down. Instead of saying she wants a "little bit" of milk to drink, she'll say "little bip". (ok not so interesting for you all to read, but I'm the one typing this out now aren't I? *grin*)
This weekend is proving to be a busy one again. Saturday we're going to the Peach Festival nearby and on Sunday we're going to visit Nana...so pictures will be coming!
Maddie's happy that her friends from her other class are also in Pre-K, she's always talking about Madison, Cloe, Gabbi and Angie. Here is a picture of her in an outfit that she picked out herself with her official folder that we bring home and take to school every day that is for her homework and other tidbits.
